Easter First Impressions: 3 ways to wow your guests

Easter is just around the corner, and your church (especially your first impressions team) may see one of the highest-attended weekends this year, so more than just giving your guests a good experience, here are 3 ways to WOW your guests and give them an experience that they’ll remember.

Have Your First Impressions Team “All Hands On Deck”

Just like you’ll have more people than usual at your church on Easter, have an “All Hands on Deck” day with your first impressions team. You’ll have more people looking for the restrooms, needing to be guided to their kid’s classrooms, and more traffic at the coffee table. In light of that, equip your team to serve at a matching capacity.

Set the atmosphere in the Parking Lot

If you’re not used to having team members in the parking lot, Easter is a great week to start.

Setting the atmosphere early will allow visitors to let down their guard and get to know the personality of your church, even before they’ve talked through the front door, PLUS this is an easy position to recruit for since you’re simply looking for someone to smile and hold a sign.

If you have volunteers wanting to join the first impressions team, but you haven’t had a chance to train them yet, or you’d like to recruit the youth to get involved that day, this is a perfect place for them to make a big impact.

Hold the door for guests as they leave

For some churches, this may seem obvious, and for others this may be a new idea, but holding the door for guests – not just when they come in, but also as they leave – re-enforces that your church is friendly and welcoming. It’s one of the last interactions a guest will have with your church before they leave, and a great opportunity to invite them back.

Have your door holders ready to say “See you next week” as people are heading out the door. It’s a reminder that your guests aren’t just welcome to Easter, but welcome any time.

If you have an upcoming event that a guest is invited to come back to, have a handout available to people as they are leaving. They are much more likely to take the handout with them if you hand it to them on their way out the door rather than their way in.

BONUS: Wow your guests with Easter Visuals.

When you have guests to your home for the first time, you straighten things up, put out your best dishes and get everything looking its best. The same can be said to make a guest feel welcomed at your church. Easter visuals let a guest know that this weekend is something extra-special – a time when you were intentional about decorating to celebrate Jesus, and his death, burial and resurrection.